If science-based fisheries management is Gov. Bill Walker's goal, then he has more than just the Alaska Board of Fisheries to worry about.

There's a conflict brewing between subsistence and conservation-minded, scientific fisheries management at the Federal Subsistence Board. During its January meeting, the board passed a unanimous motion to close the federal waters of Sitka Sound around Maknahti Island to commercial purse seine herring harvests, in addition to voting in favor of gillnet subsistence fisheries for the Kenai and Kasilof rivers.

Subsistence is meant to be the first and foremost consideration of fisheries management, according to both state and federal bylaws. But fisheries must also be managed by the best available science.

Conservation, and the science that backs it, is the constitutional mandate of the Alaska Board of Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten. Walker has made it his stated mission to rid Alaska fisheries of politics and focus on science-first management.

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska submitted the Maknahti Island proposal, which was endorsed by the Southeast Regional Advisory Council. State and federal advisors both recommended against the measure in the absence of evidence that it is necessary to preserve herring stocks.

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